I don't know, I am in the minority for sure, but I spent the last few days watching and I was not blown away by any of these guys. Some were ok, and ILiked the goalies, but overall I am not excited about the future. I know, I am negative today, but I was hoping I would see someone, especially a forward that could inject some youth and passion into this team. I just did not see it. Obviously I amNot taking about Bennett. Just myOpinion, not bashing this team in the slightest.

MarioLives wrote:I don't know, I am in the minority for sure, but I spent the last few days watching and I was not blown away by any of these guys. Some were ok, and ILiked the goalies, but overall I am not excited about the future. I know, I am negative today, but I was hoping I would see someone, especially a forward that could inject some youth and passion into this team. I just did not see it. Obviously I amNot taking about Bennett. Just myOpinion, not bashing this team in the slightest.

Plus I probably know nothing!!

Important to adjust for skill level and setting. I won't pretend to know what levels of hockey you have and haven't seen, but it's important to understand you aren't watching professional players on the whole. And they are in a, for all intents and purposes, relatively non-competitive setting.

MarioLives wrote:I don't know, I am in the minority for sure, but I spent the last few days watching and I was not blown away by any of these guys. Some were ok, and ILiked the goalies, but overall I am not excited about the future. I know, I am negative today, but I was hoping I would see someone, especially a forward that could inject some youth and passion into this team. I just did not see it. Obviously I amNot taking about Bennett. Just myOpinion, not bashing this team in the slightest.

Plus I probably know nothing!! :)

Important to adjust for skill level and setting. I won't pretend to know what levels of hockey you have and haven't seen, but it's important to understand you aren't watching professional players on the whole. And they are in a, for all intents and purposes, relatively non-competitive setting.

MarioLives wrote:I don't know, I am in the minority for sure, but I spent the last few days watching and I was not blown away by any of these guys. Some were ok, and ILiked the goalies, but overall I am not excited about the future. I know, I am negative today, but I was hoping I would see someone, especially a forward that could inject some youth and passion into this team. I just did not see it. Obviously I amNot taking about Bennett. Just myOpinion, not bashing this team in the slightest.

Plus I probably know nothing!!

Relax, you won't have to worry about them ever playing under Bylsma unless it's an emergency.

Most of these guys are not even through their full college or junior careers yet. It takes time for players to crack the lineup. It seems like most of the guys that are semi-close are going to be 3rd and 4th liners which is kind of what we need right now anyways. Top 2 lines for the most part are set.

There isn't a lot of high end talent in the system, but that's a result of drafting in the bottom of rounds, or trading picks for vets at the deadline. Would it be nice to have a gamebreaker ready to come up as a forward... sure, but what can ya do? Bennett moved through the system pretty quick. Not everyone is going to be ready after a year or two after being drafted, especially in the spots where the Pens have drafted the last few years.

If this were the Penguins say of 03-04, then alot of these guys would probably get more of a look cause the team sucked and there would be open spots for young guys. Right now there is not a lot of open spots on the roster, so let these kids develop and round out their games a the junior or AHL level.

I don't think anyone in this camp has much of a chance to make the team straight out of training camp in the fall, and it has nothing to do with them and where they're at. Here's why: http://www.capgeek.com/penguins/

The Pens already have 13 forwards under contract. Of them, Bennett is the only one on a two-way deal. He's only the only one who doesn't have to clear waivers to go down. Once Bortuzzo signs, they also will have 8 defensemen signed. Despres is the only two-way deal and is the only non-waiver-eligible among them.

Any player not among those 13 forwards or 8 defensemen would have to outplay multiple guys (2 forwards or 3 defensemen) to get into the playing lineup (no point keeping them up to be healthy scratches), and he'd have to do so by a wide enough margin to warrant losing a guy for nothing or paying him NHL money in the minors. That's a tall order for any prospect.

That said, they're roughly 500K over the cap now, plus whatever Bortuzzo ends up getting. Given that Shero typically likes to have around 1M in reserve cap space, he'd going to have to free up a little over 2M in salary. Whomever is moved out could open some spots, but not necessarily. For example, they could flip Niskanen for a pick if they think his 2.3M tag is too much for a 5th defenseman. Or they could combo him with Glass (3.4M total) to get someone to help solidify the 3rd line.

Things could change depending on what Shero does between now and opening night, but as they stand now, there's just nothing open.

Rocco wrote:So which prospects are closest to getting the honor of sitting in the press box to watch and learn from Engelland and Vitale?

Dumoilin is ready now. Offense my guess is Megna gets first shot.

Dejan pointed out that Maata is the only player with a prayer to crack the lineup this fall.

Kinda disappointing news if you ask me.

I remember reading last year (reading not seeing with my own eyes) that Dumoilin and Despres were really struggling in their own end at WBS during the lockout. Not sure if that was 100% true for BD but wondering how the year played out for him? I stopped following mostly when the NHL came back.

IIRC, Morrow, Dumoulin, and Despres all struggled and different points last year and earned their way into the WBS press box at one time or another. Morrow and Dumoulin were first year pros, so growing pains are to be expected.

From what I heard, Dumoulin eventually figured things out and was one of their better dmen by the end of the season.

I seriously don't get Pens fans and their impatience with the young D core coming up. Remember, not everyone is Kris Letang and plays 1 year in the AHL.

The Pens signed Scuds and have a full defense core at the NHL level right now because these guys aren't ready. It will take years for these guys to get here.

Anyone remember Scuderi and his path to the NHL? He played 4 seasons and 14 games at the AHL level before finally coming to the Pens for good. Maatta is only 18. Probably will go back to OHL London this fall. These guys take time. Defense is a really hard position to learn and it generally takes longer to develop a defensive player than a offensive player.

Also, just looking at these guys and their ages, Brian Dumoulin is the only one who MIGHT have a cup of coffee at the beginning of the season. He has one year of AHL experience and the size to play the NHL game at this point. Is also the only player out of the big 4 prospects to play ANY pro hockey. Will probably play another year in the AHL though. Especially with the depth the Pens have. They don't need him.

Brian Dumoulin: Age 21, 3 years Boston College. 1 Year AHLScott Harrington: Age 20, 4 years OHL London Knights (Will play AHL hockey this fall)Olli Maatta: Age 18, 2 years OHL London Knights (Will go back to OHL this fall)Derrick Pouliot: Age 19, 4 years (Only played 7 game in WHL first season) Portland Winterhawks. Will go back to WHL

Also, for anyone who forgot, you can't play in the AHL unless you are 20 years old. If you don't make the big club before then, it's back to juniors.

As you can see. none of these guys are gonna be here outside of MAYBE Dumoulin at some point.

EDIT: what is also insane in some aspects is Despres is even here. He's 21 and played only 71 AHL games over 2 seasons. He's a baby.

FORWARDS:Matia Marcantuoni is obscenely fast. Jump to the top of my prospect watch list. Jayson Megna looks as if he could be TK 2.0 which is a great thing!Teddy Blueger made some nice passes. You can tell he see's the game very well. Jake Guentzel young, small, but talented. It will be fun follow his development. kinda reminds me of Bennnet. Blaine Byron/Troy Josephs/Ryan Segalla were all very noticeable and made me feel pretty good about the draft this year. Adam Payerl/Dominik Uher are big and nasty and still developing. Nice to have especially after the ET/KV debacles. Oskar Sundqvist looked strong and smart. Tom Kuhnhackl looked smooth and smart. Jean-Sebastien Dea looked very tenacious.

D-MEN:Dumoulin very close if not ready. Very big , Very smart, Very unnoticeable in a good way.Matta is an exciting prospect to have. Shades of Gonchar/Murphey.Pouliot is looking to still have quite the learning curve ahead of him but you can see flashes of brilliance. Harringtion looks good but still has a year or so to go.Harrison Ruopp is a bad man and that's a good thing.Nick D-Agostino looked solid. Phillip Samuelsson will be an NHLer soon.

GOALIES:Hartzell is no joke. MAF should be looking over his shoulder. This could go down sooner than later.Jarry is no joke as well. Going to be fun to follow his development.

OVERALL:All in all the forward prospects pool seems as if we could have many potential solid bottom 6 players and who knows we could get lucky, See (Marcantuoni, Sundqvist, Guentzel, Blueger, Kuhnhackl )

Defensive pool is absolutely stocked to the gills. Many potential 7,6,5,4,3's not to mention a few potential stars in Matta and Pouliot.

Goalie pool is crowded and makes you question how much patience is left for MAF from Management

Gotta say, beyond an awesome hockey name, this is what I want in bottom 6 player:

Possessing blistering speed and a feisty personality, Matia Marcantuoni plays with enormous amount of energy every time he touches the ice. The foundation of his game is centered on his excellent skating ability. However, it is how he combines that skating ability with a physical recklessness that makes him an intriguing prospect.

Though he has some talents that could translate into offensive ability at the professional level, particularly his ability to carry and protect the puck, he will almost certainly make his living creating havoc with his speed and abrasive physical style.